fair, balanced and unafraid. what happened exactly with the want to be bombing on christmas day? screwups, plain and simple. tonight the president on how to prevent a repeat. i'm shepard smith. the news starts now. we face a challenge of the utmost urgency. >> the president laying out steps intended to make us safer in the wake of the near disaster on christmas day. >> we have to do better and we will do better. >> tonight plans of action and new questions about possible missed clues. plus quit smoking and develop diabetes? >> this should be a wake-up call. >> what you should know about a surprising new study. president obama says we failed,

a screwup, as he put it, that could have been disasous. the president speaking in the wake of the christmas day airplane attack in which a terror suspect is accused of trying to blow a jet out of the air as it headed to detroit. >> the bottom line is this: the u.s. government has sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the christmas day attack. but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots, which would have placed the suspect on the no fly list. in other words, this was not a failure to collect intelligence. it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had. >> the president says officials have already taken steps to address the problems, but he says with american lives on the line, he will not tolerate failures like this. fox coverage now, katherine on the possible missed clues before the plot. we can probably drop the possible. plus major garrett at the white house. the president met with his anti-terror team for a little

less than two hours today. >> reporter: that's right. and the president was unsparing in his criticism publicly and also unspare not guilty that criticism privately in that situation room meeting. the white house wants to make sure american public understands that the president shares their frustration so he took the step not only of putting out that picture of the meeting in the situation room, but releasing a lengthy direct quote from the president at what he told his anti-terror team. we dodged a bullet but just barely, the president said. it was averted by brave individuals, not because the system worked and that is not acceptable. while there will be a tendency for finger pointing, he said, i will not tolerate it. i'm told by senior administration officials there was no finger pointing in this nearly two-hour meeting, that all the agencies said yes, mr. president, we screwed up. we'll redouble our percent and improve our processes and make sure the processes that were not followed are followed in the future. >> this suspect now, the president says we've gotten a lot of intelligence from the

detroit suspect. what does that mean? do we know details? >> reporter: we don't know details on exactly what was gleaned, but we know this, that before the subject, umar farouk abdulmutallab was given his defense counsel, they spent a good long time with him. here is robert gibbs on what happened next. >> he spent a number of hours with f.b.i. investigators in which actionable intelligence was used. >> robert gibbs left the impression that the f.b.i. interrogators got all that they thought they would get and that there was no need to classify him as an enemy combatant and subject him to subsequent interrogation. that's why or at least the implication was heavy in the air, that the justice department decided to make him a civilian criminal defendant. not enemy combatant. >> our intelligence sources say that the detroit suspect in this case spent four months at a terror training camp in yemen and today the administration apparently reversed course on how to handle terror detainees

from that particular country. the president addressed this, major. >> that's right. nearly roughly 85 to 90. the exact number is not known of what detainees at guantanamo bay who are from yemen. now, up until today, the white house said on a case by case basis it would continue to send yemeni detainees from guantanamo bay back to that country. today the president said no and here is why. let's listen. >> with respect to yemen in particular, there is an ongoing security situation which we have been confronting for some time along with our yemeni partner. given the unsettled situation, i've spoken to the attorney general and we have agreed that we will not be transferring additional detainees back to yemen at this time. >> at this time. i'm told by senior administration officials that means for a good long while. that dramatically complicates the president's already behind schedule plans to close guantanamo bay, look for 2011. no time this year.

at least that's what i'm told. >> complicates it indeed. major garrett at the white house. good to see you. thank you. the united states embassy in yemen is back open for business tonight after the terrorist threat forced it to close for two days. the embassy reopened after local counter terrorism forces say they killed at least two al-qaeda militants who were reportedly behind that very threat. other western embassies are reopening. many with limited services and very high security. now word of another potential missed signal before the attempted christmas day bombing. this involved a radical imam whom the feds were watching after linking him to the fort hood killings. more than two months before the failed attack. katherine is live, this goes way back to october. right? >> reporter: that's correct. we have obtained a radical cleric's blog posting from october 7 and in that, american who supports al-qaeda from yemen, appears to hint an attack

is in the pipeline. he writes america cannot and will not win. there is no rolling back of the world wide jihad movement. when this new front of jihad starts in yemen, it might become the single most important front of jihad in the world. his web site and blog will be monitored by the u.s. intelligence community. >> a month later, we have the warning from the suspect's own father. >> that's correct. in november, his father went to the u.s. embassy in nigeria after a phone call from his son in which the 23-year-old claimed it would be their last conversation. the father met with a c.i.a. officer and told him that his son was missing and had extremist views. this information was the basis of a state department cable also obtained by fox. it reads in part, information at post suggests subject may be involved with yemeni based extremists. he has traveled previously to u.k. and dubai uae.

there were intercepts that spoke of a plot of the nigerian, but not more specific. >> didn't we create a whole new agency after the attacks on 9-11 specifically put together to connect these kinds of dots that clearly didn't get connected? >> yes. current and former intelligence officials say one of the central questions here is whether the national counter terrorism center or nctc created after 9-11 to connect the dots is actually effective. critics of the white house say brennan has a potential conflict because it was his baby. the administration has promise add thorough review of what happened. >> katherine, thanks. to health news now, it's well documented that the risk of developing diabetes is higher if you smoke cigarettes, but it turns out even more likely to get diabetes if you quit smoking. at least in the short-term. that's the brand-new conclusion of a study out of johns hopkins university. researchers say smokers who stopped, had a 70% higher chance

of developing type 2 diabetes, the adult kind, compared with those who never smoked in the first place. whereas those who continued to smoke had just a 30% chance. the fox report chief correspondent jonathan hunt is with us. i guess everyone, keep smoking. >> that's not the message they want to get across. the problem here is weight gain. what the researchers found is that in the first three years after quitting smoking, those former smokers were on average seeing their waist size go up by an inch or quarter, their total weight increased by 8 1/2 pounds. that is a problem because the researchers believe that that weight increase contributes directly to obesity and, that is a major contributing factor to diabetes. >> clearly the message here is, people should not continue smoking. >> no, absolutely not. we spoke to the doctor of the fox medical a team about that. his response to that point was pretty unequivocal.

listen. >> the outcome of this study shows we ought to be counseling people when they quit smoking so that they're aware that they may gain weight and they could increase their risk of diabetes. that's all this is. this by no means takes away from the necessity to quit smoking. >> bottom line, this report does not constitute in anybody's mind an excuse to go on smoking and tobacco remains the single biggest preventible cause of death in the world, killing 5 million people every year. >> the only product in the united states that when used as directed, kills. >> indeed. >> thanks so much. new concerns about american intelligence efforts inside afghanistan. in the wake of a deadly attack against the c.i.a. base, one top official is pushing for some serious changes. we'll have new details ahead, plus a dramatic call to 911. did you hear that? the caller just said, i killed a girl. cops say they found the girl in

question, but tell us there is one huge problem with all of this. and it's next. on abdulmutallab

a teenage girl in south carolina faces a possibility of criminal charges tonight after the police say she faked an attack against herself. staged the crime scene and made a phony call to 911. this teen-ager, seen here, initially told police she was at a park in malden when a stranger approached her, slammed her head against a pole as she tried to walk away and then she made the 911 call.

the voice you are hearing was that actually of the girl pretending to be a guy who attacked the girl, but after the call, police found the girl, apparently unconscious at that park. she did spend the night at the hospital. even helped the cops make this sketch of a suspect. but investigators say she made the whole thing up. and now charges are pending. the u.s. intelligence efforts in afghanistan are only, quote, marginally relevant to our mission. that from a top united states intelligence officer in kabul who says analysts there are largely ignorant of local economics in the region's power

brokers. the intelligence officer goes on to say that analysts also say, quote, their jobs feel more like fortune telling than serious detective work. it's a scathing assessment and it comes less than a week after an attack on the c.i.a. post in that country left seven agents and employees dead. the attack carried out by a jordanian doctor, now known to be a double agent who was thrown in jail more than a year ago and later recruited to spy against al-qaeda. instead it seems he was working for al-qaeda. we're told he was allowed onto the post in the close process last week unchecked and detonated his bomb. in an interview conducted this past summer with the bomber, just released by the middle east media research institute, this suspect reportedly spoke of his love for jihad and martyrdom and saying, i quote, when this love enters a man's heart, it does not leave him even if he wants it to.

back home in a fox weather alert, the deep freeze rocking the entire eastern half of the country, including the state of florida where farmers are scrambling to save their crops. florida produces more than three quarters of the nation's citrus crop. it's a $9 billion industry and so far, there are no reports of freeze damage, thankfully. but farmers are bracing for more nights of frigid temperatures, at least by florida standards. growers say crops are damaged when temperatures fall below 28 degrees. for more than four hours. and oranges aren't the only things in danger of freezing tonight. let's take a live look in south florida where the orange bowl is at the stadium where the dolphins play. i won't say its name. forecasters expect temperatures to hit the mid 40s in south florida during that game. domenica davis live. man alive, it's cold. >> i know. last year at this time it was 80 degrees. so that's not good for the football players. here is a look at tonight's

lows. more record breaking temperatures. we've been mentioning the orange groves. it looks like the northern most groves, where we'll see possible damage by wednesday morning. here is a look at some of the overnight lows the 28 line stays really around jacksonville area north and that looks like we will have clear skies and nothing really going on that's going to cause the temperature to raise and it should stay 28 or lower, unfortunately. clear skies, light winds, that always means you're going to have some of the coolest temperatures. we're not done with the cold air yet. certainly down to the south, they haven't even gotten in on some of the cold air. the next arctic blast comes into the plains. by thursday into the midwest, by friday, late thursday and friday, we are going to be looking at some widespread cold that could cause significant damage to the south. this cold snap is hardly over.

shep? >> domenica davis in extreme weather center, thanks. we don't know where gong kerry spent his president's day weekend, but we know where he will not be spending it. next, a country that told the massachusetts senator to stay away. 

nuclear showdown with iran is heating up. lawmakers say united states senator john kerry is not welcome. according to iran state radio, the parliament there rejected a request for a visit by the massachusetts democrat. this could be a setback for the obama administration's attempt to reach out diplomatically to iran even though the white house said it was kerry's own idea to go. in the meantime, iran is reportedly welcoming word from the secretary of state hillary clinton that there are no deadlines for starting nuclear talks. israel is happy about something

else. secretary clinton mentioned, that the united states has begun discussing the possibility of hitting iran with more economic penalties. israel is the country that iran's president has predicted would be wiped off the map. now live from jerusalem, the united states and israel seem to be on the same page about iran, but that wasn't always the case. >> reporter: that's right. 2007 national intelligence suggested iran stopped their nuclear weapons program. right now the white house is pushing for sanctions. the biggest road block against sanctions, china. president obama even made a direct plea to the chinese president when he visited last year. this afternoon, china announced it will not support sanctions. >> still the u.s. administration is still leaving the door open for diplomatic relations with iran, right? >> reporter: right. president obama gave a new year's eve deadline, obviously that's come and gone. and israel has never really been much for diplomacy.

they don't want to go head to head with the u.s. so they started distributing gas masks already and there is always every week, some sort of national homeland security drill, all indications that israel is preparing for something. >> live in jerusalem this evening, thanks. israel is trying out a new biometric airport security scanner that the experts are saying could be safer and faster and work better. it's kind of like an atm. the first time you use the thing, you have to register, the machine scans your face and your fingerprint and then your passport, then stores all that information on a little smart card, then you swipe that card at security checkpoints where the machine asks you questions and workers can decide whether you need something from humans. the airport reports it's the first system of its kind and that it could end up making lines a whole lot shorter. the israelis claim the timing of the trial run is a coincidence and not in any way connected to the attempted airline bombing here in the united states. security scares here in the u.s. schutting down an entire airport

and part of another one. the feds are keeping a closer eye on everything since the failed attack at christmas. we're live at one very busy terminal to see how flyers are coping. plus, the guy who is suing bank of america. i mean, he claims he got billions in bailouts and he calls the banks' behavior unconscionable. >> the banks would have to look at what they're charging customers versus what they're taking in and be a little more reasonable. >> well, does he have a real case? could he sue bank of america for damages? we'll report. you decide.

firefighters batting a huge blaze last night, while blocks away, two college tools were playing in a bowl game. top story. fox trip across america. arizona, the four alarm fire in glendale broke out in a storage area holding a large number of wooden pallets. emergency officials say nearly 150 firefighters showed up to fight the flames which also consumed some cars and tires. no word yet what started it. north carolina, authorities say a mother and her three children were rushed to a charlotte hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning after the mom cooked on a charcoal grill inside their apartment. a neighbor says he called 911 after he realized there was smoke coming from there. >> knocked on the door, no response. and i heard babies in there

crying and crying. >> authorities say the family was treated and released. illinois. abraham lincoln is back where he belongs. a month ago, someone stole a statue of lincoln from a resort in ashmore. the artwork depicts the former president when he was six years old. the piece damaged. somebody cut off its hand. some folks reportedly found it and called the resort. wisconsin. the principal of lincoln elementary school walks laps. he says he promised his students he would spend a day up there if they met fall fundraising goal. >> it's all for the kids. i gave them a choice of when they wanted me to come up and they said january. and it happened to be one of the coldest days. >> how cold? when he we want up there it was 8 degrees. but it crept up to 18 a little later in the day. and that's a fox watch across america. i'm shepard smith. this is the fox report.

it's the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news. security scares closing all or part of two u.s. airports today. in minneapolis, a bomb sniffing dog spotted a suspicious package on a luggage carousel. a baggage claim area and checkpoint shut down. there was nothing suspicious in the bag and no word on why the dog thought there might be. then there is bakers field, california. closing down this morning after two security screeners errorred that something in somebody's luggage made them feel sick. the feds suspended all flights and detained the owner of the bag and inside the bag, the dreaded five soft drink bottles filled with honey. these are just the latest scares since the government increased security after the attempted christmas day bombing. so how long are we going to have to deal with this and how are passengers handling the changes? mike emmanuel at reagan national outside washington, d.c how is it? >> reporter: shep, passengers we talked to seemed to take it

pretty much in stride, recognizing from the news coverage that they would be facing stronger security, some coming as early as three hours ahead of their flights. here is a sample of what one woman told us about how she's dealing with the extra security. >> you don't really have control in a car, but you feel like you have control in a car. so when you get on a plane, you know you totally relink wish control. so if there is anything you want, you need to feel safe. i guess that's why i'm willing to go through all this. >> it's important to note, we're still less than two weeks out from that attempted christmas day attack. so it's still fresh in the minds of many travelers. so far they seem to be rolling with it. >> a mild sedative might be in order for many. we've been hearing a lot about the full body scanners. are they using these at reagan national? there are not many of them, right? >> reporter: shep, this is one of the 19 airports in the u.s. to have the full body scanners. we saw them at the checkpoints. we did not see people actually going through them. when we were observing the checkpoints, we had been told that if you refuse to go

through, you can expect a pretty aggressive patdown. but the tsa is trying to let people know about who -- who are concerned about privacy that this is not about taking naked pictures of them, that their private parts are covered. but they feel like this is an important tool to make sure that that devices don't get on these planes. >> extra security takes extra time. how is that going? we saw a lot more uniformed personnel at the hint checkpoints. we saw funny police officers -- plenty of police officers. they seem staffed appropriately for the scrutiny. so far on this day at least, it seemed to be rolling okay. >> all right. good news. mike emmanuel. you appear to be the only one there. enjoy yourself. the man identified as the third white house gate crasher at the, well, the last november state dinner, now says he was there as an invited guest, thank you. his name is carlos allen and here is a picture of him at another event taken from the company's facebook page.

allen's lawyer describes his client as the publisher of an on-line society magazine. when news reports named him as the third person to get past security at that one dinner for the indian prime minister, allen initially said i wasn't there. he told politico.com, i didn't attend that state dinner whatsoever. then there is the video. turns out there were a lot of cameras at those events and two of those appear to have caught him. one shot taken outside the white house at the steps leading up to the door where the guests enter. the other shot from inside the white house. see that? just as susan rice and her husband arrived and now allen is changing his story. you think? he says through his lawyer, that he was on the guest list for the event. secret service says that's not true either. allen's lawyer mentioned that his client has no close connection with the other alleged gate crashers. shaking hands and kissing babies, that's what politicians do to try to get elected. along with the senior citizen centers that they normally visit.

some of them have come up with one more stop during the next election season. prison. a federal appeals court ruled that incarcerated felons should be allowed to vote in washington state. the ruling is based on what the judges found to be racial disparities in the state's justice system. if upheld, it could have an impact on elections across our nation. dan springer reports from the pacific northwest. first of all, dan, give us the background on this particular case there. >> reporter: yeah. the lawsuit was filed in 1996 by six inmates, all at the federal penitentiary in washington. all are minorities, four african-americans, one native american and one hispanic. one guy is in for life. he's a three striker. they argued that their rights under the voting rights act, the federal voting rights act, were violated by a state law prohibiting them from voting. they said that the criminal justice system is biased and discriminatory because blacks are overrepresented in the prison.

blacks make up 3.7% of washington state's population, but 19% of its prison population, shep. >> this ended up before a three judge panel on the 9th court of appeals and they decided? >> well, they decided on a 2-1 vote that the inmates were right, that the system here is discriminatory and biased and that because the state didn't refute two studies showing that or make strong cases for that, that they would side in favor of the convicts. one of the studies looked at how drug laws were being enforced in the city of seattle. we talked to the author of washington state's three strikes law. >> you could prove that the system is sexist because 98% of inmates are male and only 2% female if you simply use disparities. >> and the judge who dissented also decided that or said those studies were bogus, when you go by just the numbers here in

washington state, shep, latinos and asians are both underrepresented in washington prisons. >> some perspective here. vermont and maine are the only states that currently allow prisoners to vote at all. how could this affect other states? >> reporter: well, immediately it raises the question, what happens to all the people who are in washington state's prison when you have a court deciding that this is a discriminatory and biased system. it opens the door to all kinds of challenges in washington state. beyond that, all the 11 states in the 9th circuit court out west. now you have the potential for challenges there. then you've got 4.7 million people in prison now across the country licking their chops thinking they'll get a ballot one day. but hold your horses. remember that the 9th circuit court of appeals is the most overturned circuit court in the land. so the chances of this being overturned are high and the state of washington says they will indeed appeal this decision. they have 14 days to do so. >> fair enough. dan springer live in the pacific

northwest. thank you. the year 09 was one that the auto industry, if industries had memories, would probably rather forget. a year in which credit froze up and sales plunged, when two of the big three auto makers had to take taxpayer bailouts and reorganize under bankruptcy protection before a federal tax credit finally brought buyers back into the show rooms, at least for a bit. tonight we know the damage. the auto makers reporting u.s. sales for this month of december and the only auto maker which did not file for bankruptcy protection said sales were up 33% last month from december of 08. but overall, ford says 09 sales fell 15% from the year before. general motors says december sales were down 9% and off by about a third for the year. while chrysler reports december sales fell 4%. 2008 sales for the year down 36. he says he got squeezed for cash by this bank. after the bank of america jacked up his interest rate and lowered his credit limit, he said he just had it. now the california law maker insists he is not paying the

bill and he's threatening, at least, to sue bank of america. he's ben and claims they raised his rate to 27.99%. despite what he calls a perfect payment history. now, he says he will sue the bank if it tries to ruin his credit. here is what he had to say today on studio b. >> these rates are unconscionable and a judge can find that or a jury can determine that if a judge will let it go to a jury. that would change a lot of things. the banks would have to look at what they're charging customers versus ha they're taking in and be a little more reasonable about it. >> as standard practice, bank of america does not comment about individual accounts, but said this about credit limits. in general, we, bank of america, monitor accounts for risk and may adjust customers lines up or down as appropriate based on the risk profile and performance with us. vies announcement from the democratic senator opening up what could be a closely watched

political fight. the north dakota senator announced late today he will not run for reelection this year. of course, republicans will see this as an opportunity to pick up the senate seat. in a statement tends to lean conservative and that could change the balance of power in d.c could. he's held his office since 1992. he's been up on the hill in one way or another for 30 years. he says there are other things he would like to pursue outside of politics and make no mistakes, his numbers have been down in recent months in a big way. closed door negotiations are nothing new in dc, but as a candidate, president obama made a promise. he promised that the talks on health care would be different. now a national television network supported by all of us, is pushing congress to open those doors to the rest of the country. we'll tell you how that's going. plus, snow drifts bury a train with more than 1,000 people on it. i mean bury it. the efforts to save them, coming up.

oh, yeah. the count down continues. the health care battle, president obama tonight meeting with lawmakers to begin ironing out the differences between the house bill and the senate bill. they have to come together. this happens nearly three weeks after senate democrats passed their version of the legislation. the differences are in provisions on abortion, illegal immigration, federal aid for low income families and the so-called public option, or government run health care option. among those expected to attend, nancy pelosi, house majority leader, senate majority leader harry reid expected to join the meeting by phone. they say they hope to have the bill on the president's desk in some form by next month. the national tv network, cspan is challenging lawmakers to open up the upcoming health care talks to the media. that's something president obama did promise he would do before he got elected. but after months of closed door negotiations, there is a new round of resistance to making those talks public. shannon breen is on the hill. this actually began when the

president promised transparency in his campaign. >> reporter: he sure did. in fact, he said it would be a touch stone of his administration. he made specific promises to about cspan when it came to the health care debate, the fact he would make sure it was televised so americans knew what was going on. he made those promises in january 2008 presidential debate and also in a town hall meeting in 2008. he said people need to know who is advocating for who in these meetings and when asked about it today, white house press spokesman didn't want to address it head on. he said americans don't have any questions. this has been one of the most transparent processes in history. shep. >> what does cspan requesting exactly here? >> reporter: this letter from the founder and ceo goes to top democrats and republicans on capitol hill and said already we have broadcast hundreds of hours worth of this health care legislation debate. many meetings, this is not the time to be closing the door as we go into the final stretch about the details that will

affect every single american. they say we think it should be respectfully open to the public, full access and we want to see it televised. they're promising to use the best high-tech gear, so they won't have mikes that won't be object trucesive. they're calling on the president to basically keep his promise. >> what's anyone saying about this? >> reporter: you know what? it doesn't look good based on what we heard from the democrats today. they're publicly acknowledging there is a possibility they're going to skip that formal process of a conference all together. that's why republicans and democrats would sit down and hash this thing out. we know there are behind the scenes meetings tonight and looks like what they're heading for is a possible negotiation with top white house leaders, possibly the president and top democrats from the senate and house. that means no republicans and no cspan cameras. >> the majority using its power. chandra levy, thank you. a news that shows the rate of health care spending in the united states has fallen to its lowest rate in nearly five decades. according to the government

centers for medicare and medicaid services, spending still tops $3 trillion in 2008. that's $7,700 per person. more than 16% of the nation's total economic output. the analysis includes costs associated with everything from hospital visits to long-term care. but health care spending still grew at a faster pace than the overall economy. we're just getting this in to fox news. the big unit is stepping down from the mound. that's the nickname for the baseball pitching legend, randy johnson. his fast ball and his 6' 10 frame intimidated batters for 22 seasons. he pitched on six different teams, striking out some 4800 batters. the most k's ever for a lefty and second to nolan ryan. along the way, he picked up a world series ring and five cy young awards. went to the all-star game ten times and pitch add perfect game, one of only 18 ever pitched. his at the age of 40.

he says he wants to go out on his terms and that it's times to retire. an investigation underway in the death of an heiress to the johnson & johnson empire. police report they found the body of 30-year-old casey johnson in her los angeles home. she's the daughter of the new york jets owner, woody johnson and the fiance of tequila. johnson once said she turned down paris hilton's offer to co-star in her reality show, the simple life. she called that decision the, quote, stupidest mistake of my life. bob from los angeles reports. >> casey johnson's body was removed from this los angeles home yesterday. a coroner's autopsy being conducted op the body. it will take six weeks to complete pending toxicology results. preliminary findings indicate that casey johnson died of natural causes. no indication at this point of any foul play. here is what we know. it was just before noon

yesterday, firefighters responding to this home in the beverly grove section of los angeles, responding to a 911 call and they find the 30-year-old socialite dead. the web site, tmz.com, reporting that her body may have been inside this home for days. her fiance, reality tv star tequila, saying they got into an argument last week and that casey cut her phone off on december 29. that was last week. the celebrity web site, raider on-line.com, reporting and citing an unnamed source saying that tequila believes she died of a drug overdose. casey johnson reportedly had had problems with drugs and alcohol. casey johnson, perhaps not as famous as her celebrity and socialite friends, paris and nicky hilton, but she has a famous family. woody johnson, her father, the owner of the new york jets and her great grandfather is robert

wood johnson the first, the founder of the empire johnson & johnson. she believes behind a daughter that she adopted back in 2007, just three years old, ava. in los angeles, shep, back to you. >> bob reporting earlier tonight. google now, the new super phone, and we have one right here. can it really compete with the i phone? what does it do? we'll show you. "%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%÷

that i phone in your pocket may finally have its first real competitor. google has just released the nexus 1 and it's huge. it's the first time the 11-year-old company has ventured into the software business to design and sell an actual device. here is a look at the two phones side by side. the nexus 1 on the left, i phone on the right.

the nexus 1 runs on google's operating system that they call android. it's thinner nonan i phone by a little bit. if you buy one, it ships from google's on-line store, 179 bucks with a two-year contract from t mobil. but the difference with this thing is you can buy it without the contract. $529 without a service plan and eventually at least a couple of people are going to carry it. we shall see. a fellow celebrating his 21st birthday in oregon getting a close shave in a train station. check the video. that's our guy there in the spot shadow. see there? we're told he was horsing around with some buddies when he just fell off the platform, just as the train started to move. fortunately, he was able to squeeze between the train and the platform somehow. look at that. his friends helped him get back up. no third rail disaster. a train line spokesperson says the new cars have a higher clearance. if it had been an older model, it could have been curtains.

happy birthday. a snow storm burying parts of a passenger train. hundreds of people on board at the time. how long were they stuck there? top story as we go around the world in 80 seconds. china, talk about caught in the snow. huge drifts covering many cars, the train stranded in inner mongolia. more than 1,000 passengers reportedly trapped without heat or light for more than a day. rescue crew high school to dig them out of there. parts of the country now in the middle of a wicked winter storm which is expected to continue through the end of the week. columbia, a surprise new year's eve attack on a rebel camp in the jungle, killing more than 20 militants. you can see the bombing in this just released columbian military video. after the strike, soldiers moved in, 15 guerrillas who survived the attack surrendered. congo. a scientist has a volcano in a national park that erupted over the weekend is still spewing lava.

researchers keeping an eye on the flow which is have not yet threatened any populated areas. china, fireworks helping kick off an annual international snow and ice festival in a city in the northeast. the display featuring palaces and temples made of ice. even an ice slide. millions of tourists said to enjoy the festival each year. the celebration set to run through this month and into february until the ice starts to melt. that's a wrap on this fox trip around the world in 80 seconds. why did the pig cross the road? to get away from the cop, of course. we'll show you how this unusual police chase ended. ( whooshing )

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the meeting went great! they loved the presentation! judy, great job on the printing! 'm amanda. tom. james. nice job on the brochures and letterhead. louis, keep up the good work with our shipments. it's -- it's peter. great job, everybody!

that's a closet. you know what, guys? take the afternoon off! we can't. that is why i hired you. world's proudest boss. [ male announcer ] we understand. you can never have too much help. fedex office. >> shepard: top stories coming right up. but first, bring home the bacon can be tough. it's harder when that bacon is running across the highway. police in central taiwan forced

to stop traffic to try to round up a runaway pig. they finally caught it when this happened. oh, nelly. police eventually got the pig back into custody. the top story tonight, president obama met with top intelligence advisors to discuss the failed bombing attempt of northwest delta flight 253. the president called the security breach potentially disasterrous. and carmaker henry ford on this day in 1914 took the radical step of establishing a minimum wage of $5 a day. he revolutionized transportation with the model t but the idea to pay workers five bucks a day was a bit of a shock. it was double what workers made the day before. other car companies were forced to do the same thing. ford kicked wages into high gear 96 years ago today. and now you know the news for